Recommended by Dave Osmundsen

DC Cathro drops us in the middle of what seems will be a typical marital squabble. But the squabble becomes about something deeper—about two people with fundamentally different values confronting how they view the unhoused population. With economy and precision, the play asks who deserves what—food, generosity, the basic necessities of living—and encourages us to see the marginalized as human. Fantastic work!

This haunting play took my breath away from the first page and did not let go. A thrilling non-linear and multi-generational dive into toxic relationships, abuse, self-destruction, trauma, survival, and care. Jordan Elizabeth’s dialogue is like the toughest poetry that goes for the jugular and makes the cleanest incisions, even when her characters can't quite articulate their feelings. I’d love to see a director take on the challenge of using three actors to tell this story. Bravo!

Reading like a "mommy noir" thriller in the spirit of Ashley Audrain, Jennifer O'Grady's "Fertile Ground" is a slow-burn descent into the darkest part of a parents' psyche. In O'Grady's script, every character has the capacity to harm and destroy one another and themselves. Particularly compelling for me was Leigh's journey, from devastated mother-to-be to inspired author to vindictive, cold, and calculating, to finally... No spoilers here, but her final monologue is chilling.

Towards the end of Aly Kantor's fine play "Occupied," one of two best friends expresses the wish that "something exciting will happen in her lifetime." Over nearly twenty years of friendship, Jac and Amelia live through the most tumultuous and earth-shattering events of the twenty-first century. Kantor smartly keeps these events on the periphery, dedicating most of her script to the friendship of two women, with several doses of humor, character, and spot-on dialogue. Lovely play!

It’s rare to read a 10-minute play as fully realized, specific in both setting and emotion, and as satisfying as THE OKTAVIST. Despite this play’s brevity, its content extends into the existential—what do we do with our greatest desires when our skills don’t match up? Is it better to be the source of talent, or the witness? How do we go on when we realize our shortcomings? Vince Gatton has also written two strong characters with a fully human dynamic. Stupendous work!

Whew! Andrew Rosendorf and Carlyn Aquiline have created an overwhelmingly expansive, aching, and visceral poem of a play. A group of mostly queer war buddies who are collectively grieving the loss of a friend. What emerges from their interactions is a potent message about the power of authenticity, the courage to live truthfully, and the bravery it takes to fight not just for one’s country, but also for one’s right to exist. A necessary play for the sake of queer history, I was deeply moved.

Two Autistic individuals whose lives are at crossroads for different reasons jibe, rib, annoy, aggravate, and finally console each other through a recent death, a property dispute, and being Autistic in an Allistic world. Jordan Elizabeth Henry gives two Autistic characters space to be themselves, and not allow them to be defined by their relationships to Allistic folks. With a hint of magical realism from an overhanging cocoon, this lovely play is a blessing to Autistic performers.

A brilliantly theatrical and bold reimagining of the Frankenstein mythos, this play uses the framework of Mary Shelley's tale to discuss body dysphoria from a non-binary perspective. Particularly creative are the different body parts who share elliptical memories of the humans they were formerly attached to. This play also makes you question one's relationship to their body, and the horrifying lengths we go to to find a body we feel comfortable in. Fantastic work that left me shooketh!

What starts as an alternative epic Western becomes a mystical and mythical dissection of trauma, capitalism, and the American culture’s relationship with violence. Stevens’s play incisively examines the potential for violence in all of us, even in a world without guns, while maintaining the buoyancy of a fable. With a colorful cast of characters and a brilliantly subversive plotline, “The Last Living Gun” exhilarates and charms one moment, then devastates and disturbs the next.

“People Should Talk About What’s Real” tackles issues of marriage, infertility, and bodily agency from the perspective of five diverse and complex characters. Also scintillating is the exploration of whom we’re comfortable sharing information with—an anonymous public, or our partners, who are supposed to know us best? A pandemic-era play that offers hope for a post-COVID world that sadly went sideways.